The Envoys

At the same time, the delegation sent by the Eastern Kingdoms had only just made it through the treacherous Great Gana Forest. They were currently using levitation scrolls to cross the Ersencielo River, which was teeming with ferocious aquatic magical beasts.

As the delegation representing the Eastern Kingdoms on this mission to the God-Forsaken Land, this group consisted of only eleven people.

At their head was Saintess Vina Alice of the Holy Kingdom's church.

At the same time, as a high-tier Silver Rank clergy member, she was also the strongest person in the entire team.

It was not that Vina was overconfident and chose not to bring more powerful Gold Rank experts as escorts.

Rather, almost all of the Holy Kingdom's Gold Rank experts had perished in the recent battle against the Mother of Shadows.

The few remaining survivors had still not recovered. Even getting out of bed was a struggle for them, let alone traveling thousands of miles to the God-Forsaken Land.

Although the rumor currently circulating across the Eastern Continent was that Valkyrie Tracy of the Rose Empire had fought the black dragon single-handedly and ultimately repelled it...

...in reality, that was merely a reassuring lie deliberately spread by the upper echelons of the various nations to keep the public calm.

As a high-ranking member of the church, Vina knew exactly what had transpired back then.

Originally, the Eastern Kingdoms had assumed it was merely a Gold Rank adult black dragon, which was why they had allowed Valkyrie Tracy to challenge it.

But no one expected that the black dragon had already touched the threshold of the Legendary realm.

Although it had not yet fully achieved Legendary status, it was still not something an ordinary human Legendary expert could contend with.

Thus, barely after the battle began, Tracy was utterly crushed and severely wounded by the black dragon in a display of absolute dominance.

Had the Eastern Kingdoms not held an emergency consultation and deployed two more Legendary experts and seven Gold Rank experts to temporarily hold off the black dragon, Tracy would have likely met her end right then and there.

Yet even so, they failed to defeat the black dragon.

To prevent the black dragon from suddenly ascending to Legendary status mid-battle and unleashing an unnecessary catastrophe, the Eastern Kingdoms were forced to take the initiative to sue for peace, signing a truce with the dragon.

Only after they promised numerous concessions did the despicable black dragon swagger out of the Eastern Kingdoms' sphere of influence.

And signing a peace treaty with the two black dragons in the God-Forsaken Land was one of those many agreed-upon conditions.

The Pope of the Holy Kingdom had been one of the two Legendary experts who went to hold off the Mother of Shadows. In that battle, not only was the Pope injured, but nearly all the high-ranking Gold Rank church members who accompanied him had lost their lives.

This left the Holy Kingdom at a disadvantage during the Eastern Kingdoms' negotiations, forcing them to have their own Saintess assume the role of peace envoy.

Naturally, the other nations did not offer any compensation.

They wished for nothing more than the demise of every nation but their own, which would allow them to dominate the entire Eastern Continent.

Under these circumstances, the moment Vina, acting as the envoy, stepped ashore after crossing the Ersencielo River, her legs buckled, and she nearly collapsed to the ground.

Fortunately, the female captain of the guard in charge of her escort rushed forward just in time to support her, saving the envoy from making an embarrassing scene before her mission had even truly begun.

After thanking the captain, Vina ordered the delegation to set up camp and rest. She then plopped down onto the ground, letting out a long sigh, feeling a profound sense of relief.

But at the thought of having to traverse the Great Gana Forest all over again on the return trip, a wave of irritation inevitably welled up from the depths of her heart.

She silently cursed eighteen generations of the ancestors of those dwarves who had refused to let them cross the river through the Dwarven Empire.

As a mere Silver Rank clergy member, traversing the Great Gana Forest was by no means an easy feat for her—not to mention that the forest was currently far more dangerous than usual due to that black dragon.

Along the way, just dealing with those disgusting swamp poison mosquitoes and the inexplicably surging goblin population had left the young clergy member exhausted from running for her life.

At their most critical moment, they had even been surrounded by a large number of goblins and ogres, nearly getting dragged back to the goblin nests to be turned into food.

Just the memory of those goblins staring at her with those disgusting, twisted eyes gave Vina the urge to unleash her holy flames and purify the entire Great Gana Forest.

But she could only dream of doing so.

If she actually set fire to the forest and angered that evil dragon, every human faction across the entire Eastern Continent would undoubtedly brand her as the instigator of war.

No matter where she fled, she would be captured and executed right before the evil dragon's eyes just to appease its wrath.

Under the sweltering heat, Vina grew increasingly agitated. The itchy, swollen pustules on her skin from the swamp poison mosquito bites felt even more unbearable at this moment.

On the verge of being driven mad by the oppressive atmosphere, Vina began to chant words of praise, casting a divine spell upon herself.

As the divine spell took effect, she was enveloped in a gentle, water-like holy light.

Under the illumination of this holy light, the toxins in the swelling caused by the swamp poison mosquitoes were gradually purged, and the redness slowly subsided.

Once the itching and pain had completely vanished from her body, Vina ceased her prayers and opened her amber eyes. The fatigue on her face swept away, replaced once more by a look of resolve.

Seeing this, the female captain of the guard wiped the sweat from her brow, stood up, and walked over. “Forgive my presumption, Your Holiness, but perhaps we should handle the rest of the journey. Given your unique status, you shouldn't be taking such risks.”

“The Pope's decree was merely for you to come here. It didn't explicitly state that you must hand-deliver the treaty to those two evil dragons yourself.”

“Why don't you rest here for a few days? I can take the treaty and complete the handover myself.”

“With His Grace the Pope severely injured, you are now the core of the entire church. Please prioritize your own safety.”

Vina's eyes swept over the captain's face. In a flat, cold tone, she said, “The Pope is the representative of His Grace the God of Light in the mortal realm. His words are the will of the God of Light. Do you expect me to disobey our god, Pelor?”

“I...”

Seeing the panic on the captain's face, Vina waved her hand and continued, “Laya, don't worry too much. You must understand that we were only sent here as envoys to convey our desire for peace. We are not here to declare war and fight those two evil dragons to the death.”

“Besides, every coin has two sides. Although we were sidelined and sent to this savage land as envoys because His Grace the Pope was severely injured, who's to say this isn't also an opportunity?”